10/24/2019
Another amazing article from , whose words always ring true to me. ————————————————-
‘Permit, allow, approve, authorize, release, tolerate, grant, give...’ this language is commonly used by health care providers when speaking to birthing individuals. I try to hide my internal cringe when I see a client’s autonomy or birth vision crack under the weight of these words. “ At its heart, this language is about a lack of respect. It’s how we speak to children, not competent adults.... It’s also a reinforcement of deep cultural beliefs about women as passive objects, not full owners of their bodies nor representatives of their babies...” The majority of my ‘job’ as a birthworker, is passing on the knowledge of physiological birth for individuals to take charge of their own births and advocate for themselves. So if/when they hear this vocabulary they can take back that power.